ACTING presidential spokesperson Martin Andanar sa on Sunday that Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC) founder Pastor Apollo Quiboloy is a private individual who can defend himself in court.
Andanar made the statement following the announcement of the United States Department of Justice (US DOJ) that a co-accused of Quiboloy has agreed to cooperate with US federal authorities in prosecuting him in his cases in the US.
“We reiterate that Pastor Apollo Quiboloy of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ is a private individual. As such, he can defend himself in court in light of Maria de Leon’s recent action,” Andanar said in a press statement.
Malacañang has repeatedly distanced itself from Quiboloy’s cases in the US.
In November, Malacañang stated that President Rodrigo Duterte will enforce the laws accordingly amid issues hounding his spiritual adviser.
Quiboloy, a televangelist who calls himself the “Appointed Son of God,” is Duterte’s spiritual adviser.
In a remark on Friday, Los Angeles-based paralegal Maria de Leon admitted to “preparing and filing fraudulent documents” that would grant US residency and citizenship to members of the Quiboloy-founded KOJC.
De Leon, 73-year-old owner of Liberty Legal Document Services, admitted that she participated in the conspiracy to commit marriage and visa fraud with leaders of the KOJC for about eight years.
She is one of the nine people, including Quiboloy, who was charged in November 2021 in a labor-trafficking scheme that used falsified visas to bring church members to the US, where they were forced to donate to a bogus charity called Children’s Joy Foundation (CJF), which is based in Glendale, California.
According to the US DOJ, the alleged donations were used to finance church operations and the “lavish lifestyles of its leaders”.
It said members who “proved successful at soliciting for the KOJC were forced to enter into sham marriages or obtain fraudulent student visas to acquire legal status in the United States so they could continue soliciting donations, the indictment alleges.”
The US DOJ said many of the workers were “moved around the United States to solicit donations as CJF ‘volunteers,’ who were also called Full Time Miracle Workers.”
In November 2021, Quiboloy, de Leon, and seven others were indicted for conspiracy to engage in sex trafficking by force, fraud and coercion, and sex trafficking of children.
De Leon is one of the six defendants who have been arrested and five others who appeared in a federal court in Los Angeles are scheduled to be tried on March 21, 2023.
The US DOJ believes that Quiboloy, who remains at large, is still in the Philippines.
